Recent Military Heritage
Background
Many of English Heritage's best known and most popular properties have served a military purpose at one time or another. Dover Castle in Kent for example; Pendennis and St Mawes castles in Cornwall; Hurst Castle in Hampshire; and Tilbury Fort in Essex. Military re-enactments, from the Romans to World War II, form an important part of our summer programmes at these sites, which are also used as part of the national curriculum. Many military sites now have statutory protection, as listed buildings or scheduled monuments.
Underpinning many of these initiatives is the need to understand and conserve buildings, sites and monuments in order that they can continue to be enjoyed by this and future generations. It is an increasingly popular subject, as the viewing figures for television programmes on this theme, and visitor numbers to properties indicates. But we must understand this part of the heritage if we are to manage it effectively. To provide this understanding, English Heritage has been commissioning original historical and archaeological research on the subject of recent military heritage since 1995. Much of this work has been based on archive sources held at the National Archives (formerly the Public Records Office or PRO), Kew. Studies have been concluded which document anti-aircraft gunnery, radar, coast artillery, the bombing decoys put in place during World War II to deceive enemy bombers, civil defence structures and so on. A progress report provides a comprehensive list of projects to date. For most of these classes of site the work has provided a classification which can be used by surveyors and investigators in the field, as well as revealing the distribution and total numbers of sites (to the accuracy of 6-figure grid references) and the strategic thinking behind each of these types of site. The reports produced are substantial documents now held by local authorities in their Historic Environment Records, and at the National Monuments Record, Swindon. Books on these themes are also being published in partnership with Methuen in their Monuments of War series. date can be purchased through our Customer Services Department.
In addition we have extended this study chronologically into the Cold War, continuing a programme of work started by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME, now merged with English Heritage), and thematically to include studies of army camps, prisoner of war camps, as well as military aircraft crash sites and war art. As well as these national programmes our survey teams continue to investigate military sites, while many new sites have been added by the National Mapping Programme. Some examples of particular projects and initiatives follow.
Prisoner of War Camps
With some notable exceptions, very little is known about World War II Prisoner of War (PoW) camps (1939-48). This is despite a large volume of documentary material surviving in public records at the National Archives. Even less work has been undertaken to identify the total number and location of the camps, now a significant historic feature in the landscape, and a place of memory for many veterans and their families. To help understand this subject, and inform future management of what are often now vulnerable and unstable sites, a study was undertaken by English Heritage of sites in England. The results are included in a report, 'Prisoner of War Camps, 1939-1948'.
Anti-invasion
Anti-invasion defences are mostly those defence structures put in place to contain an expected invasion early in 1940-41. The whole country was defended to some extent, and many of these sites still survive. Initially these surviving sites were recorded as part of the Heritage Lottery Funded Defence of Britain Project . This project used volunteers to identify and record surviving structures across the UK. The results of this study can be consulted and searched online while the Project's final report can be at downloaded from the Britarch website.
Following completion of the Defence of Britain Project in 2002, and using the records it generated, English Heritage undertook a study of 'defence areas': those areas of England where the defence structures remain within a landscape largely unchanged since the defences were first put in place, typically in 1940-1. These places have particular relevance for understanding the logic of defence and its impact upon the pre-War landscape. This project is now complete, and the report is available at Historic Environment Record offices, and at the National Monuments Record. A book describing this project and its results is now available from the CBA Bookshop.
Miltary Aircraft Crash Sites
Some may be surprised to hear that English Heritage consider these to be archaeological sites, yet they are, and have been recognised as such since at least the 1979 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act, which includes within its definition of monument, ‘crashed aircraft or the remains thereof'. These sites are not just collections of surface or buried artefacts awaiting retrieval or rescue. They can also be war graves, and sometimes contain live ordnance. They will also often have social significance to local communities or the families and friends of aircrew, and they will always contain archaeological evidence about the aircraft and how it was maintained, evidence that will be lost if it is not correctly excavated, recorded and published. English Heritage has issued guidance on the management of military aircraft crash sites. Table 1 of the guidelines document provides detailed information on the 21 now extinct military aircraft.
Cold War
English Heritage has undertaken a study of Cold War sites, including a subsequent assessment of surviving sites, which is available from Historic Environment Records and the National Monuments Record. The Cold War study was published in 2004: entitled Cold War; Building for Nuclear Confrontation, 1946-89. The book is available from the English Heritage bookshop. A series of more detailed studies of particular sites can be accessed at the National Monuments Record - Spadeadam (Cumbria) for example, where we also worked with a video artist to capture the character of the place, and the process of recording it. English Heritage staff are also involved in an archaeological study of the Cold War peace camps at Greenham Common. Details of this project are available at www.greenhamcommonground.org.
Surveys
Much valuable and innovative work is undertaken by the archaeologists of English Heritage's Landscape Investigation team in identifying, interpreting and recording in detail the relics of England's military past. This includes studies of isolated military installations like the forts at Dover Western Heights (Kent), Landguard Fort, Harwich (Essex), and the well preserved World War II fighter station at RAF Perranporth (Cornwall), along with militarised landscapes such as the area occupied by Defence Estates on western Dartmoor, the ranges at Spadeadam (Cumbria), and the coastline at Dunstanburgh (Northumberland). The team has published a book presenting the findings of field investigations on Salisbury Plain (Wiltshire) and another based on aerial photography of the Suffolk Coast). Military features also appear in less obviously military locations such as a searchlight battery surviving as earthworks at Buildwas Abbey (Shropshire), or the weapons pits surrounding the airfield of the glider club within the prehistoric hillfort at Sutton Bank Hillfort (North Yorkshire). A thematic study of the manufacture of military explosives - Dangerous Energy (2000) - is a definitive work on the subject. Some of these publications are available from www.english-heritage.org.uk/shop.
War Art
Examples of folk art and casual doodlings by soldiers can be traced back many centuries, ranging from crude representations of ships scratched on walls, to exquisite pieces of scrimshaw fashioned by Napoleonic prisoners of war. More familiar perhaps are the cartoons applied to aircraft and flying jackets, especially by American air force personnel during World War II. Artwork ranging from unit insignia to risqué pin-ups was also commonplace in many airfield messes and crew rooms. This military artwork offers insight into the culture of different armed forces, and the use of space on military bases. In semi-public areas for example where authorised visitors have access, paintings are usually restricted to official unit insignia or heroically realistic representations of men and machines reflecting pride in their unit. In technical areas some images are training aids. In restricted areas unrestrained images are
often found. English Heritage staff have recorded wall art on numerous World War II and Cold War bases. We have also issued guidance on conservation and management. English Heritage has published military and wall art guidelines. A book on military war art is now available.
Maritime Military Heritage
Wrecks
Recent warships have been protected as Designated Historic Wrecks under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 such as the early aircraft carrier HMS Campania and the submarines Holland 5 and HMS A1. Furthermore, the Ministry of Defence has powers to protect vessels that were in military service when they were wrecked under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, while the Sunken Military Craft Act 2004 applies to all US warships and aircraft. In 2002, the MoD designated eleven military maritime graves as ‘controlled sites' including HMS Dasher, HMS Exmouth and HMS Formidable.
Vehicles
The remains of numerous military vehicles are known offshore: the remains of seven Vickers Valentine Tanks, for example, lie on the seabed in Poole Bay . These tanks were fitted with pneumatically powered canvas screens as an experiment in making them seaworthy and were trialled off Dorset from 1942. In addition, the remains of individual DUKW's, six-wheeled amphibious landing craft, have been periodically recorded on the seabed in the English Channel .
Aircraft
The English Channel and the North Sea were the focus of a significant proportion of air activities during the last war and accordingly, the remains of aircraft have been identified on the seabed. However, all aircraft that have crashed in military service are automatically protected as ‘controlled sites' under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
Structures and Artefacts
Elements of Mulberry Units have been recorded in the Selsey area, while isolated findspots offshore, such as shell cases identified on Lulworth Bank indicating the presence of a 1950s naval gunnery range, offer opportunities for further research.
Specific advice on submerged archaeological remains can be sought from the Maritime Archaeology team.
Protection and Management
Some of the sites identified through our research programmes have been protected, either through listing (typically where they continue in use) or scheduling (some of these sites have been selected where management out of everyday use is the preferred outcome). These sites have been selected following a survey which has used aerial photographic evidence to document the survival of known wartime sites. Surprisingly for such a recent period, and with sites as robust as these, very little remains. For example, 105 of the original 242 World War II radar stations have been removed, and only 14 of those that survive can be described as anywhere near complete. For the substantially-built Heavy Anti-aircraft gunsites from World War II, over 1000 were built of which at least 790 have since been removed. Coast batteries have fared rather better as many of these were built into earlier historic forts that already had a measure of protection. Some sites have been protected as a result of thematic listing surveys, examples include Ordnance yards and Naval dockyards. The way these and other sites are protected may change in the future however, as the current Heritage Protection Review reaches its conclusion.
But designation isn't the only mechanism for managing these sites. English Heritage has issued guidance on the management of historic military aviation sites. Annex 3 of this guidance lists 26 'key' sites. These are the sites that retain the best-preserved airfield landscapes and/or most historically significant groups of original buildings. We have also recently used characterisation as the basis for determining future management needs at RAF Scampton and Bletchley Park.
Free and Online Publications
Various booklets are downloadable as pdf files and some can be obtained from Customer Services. These are:
Various booklets are downloadable as pdf files and some can be obtained from Customer Services. These are:
Monuments of War: the evaluation, recording and management of twentieth century defences. English Heritage 1998.
Twentieth century military sites. English Heritage 2003.
Historic Military Aviation Sites: Conservation Management Guidance. English Heritage 2003.
Conservation Bulletin 44, Archaeology of Conflict. 2003.
Military aircraft crash sites: archaeological guidance on their significance and future management. English Heritage, 2003.
D-Day sites: sixty years on English Heritage, 2004.
Military Wall Art: guidelines on significance, conservation and management. English Heritage, 2004.
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